Manure-spreader.



' PATENTED MAY 1; 1906.-

L. A. .KEENE.

MANURE SPREADER.

APBLIOATION FILED MAYB, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 PATENTED MAY 1, 1906 No. 819,659. L. A. KEENE,

MANURE SPREADER. APPLICATION TILED MAY 6, 1905-- 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

' the spreader.

UNrrnn s ra rns PATENT OFFICE.

MANURE SPREADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1906.

Application filed May 6,1905. Serial No. 259,231-

To all LU/7,0772; it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Louis A. Kenna, acitizen of the United States, residing at aterman, in the county of Dekalb and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful lmprovementsinM anure-Sprmniers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is the improvement of manure-sprezniers in certain details to be pointed out hereinafter,

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a manure-spreader embodying the features of my invention, the near drive-wheel being removed. Fig. 2 is a similar view taken from the opposite side of Fig. 3 is a detail view of the bottom-actuating mechanism. Fig. 4 is av sectional view taken on dotted line 4 4 of Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale. Fig. is a section onv dotted line 5 5 of Fig. 3, also on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the bottom actuating mechanism. Fig. 7 is a perspective VlOW of several of the links of the drive-chain for the movable bottom. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view through one of said links. Fig. 9 is a view of an operating connection between the rake and the mechanism for rotating the spreadercylinder and feeding the bottom. Fig. 10 is a detail view showing in front elevation the hand-lever for starting and stopping the machine and the means for locking said lever in the operative position. Fig. 11 is a horizontal section on dotted line 11 11 of Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a top plan view of a part of the rake-operating devices.

In the construction of a. mam1rc-spreader embodying my invention 1 provide a box or body .I, suitably mounted upon the forward wheels 2 and the rear or drive wheels 3, said rear wheels being loosely mounted upon a rotalive shaft 4, suitably supported beneath the spremler-l ody Each of said rear wheels is connected to said shaft by means of a pawl and ratchet, (not shown) whereby forward movement of the spreader is transmitted through the wheels to rotate said shaft,while backwgn'd movement of the spreader causes the pawls to click over their ratchets.

The bottom 5 of the box 1 is adapted and mounted to travel to feed the manure to the distributing mechanism, said bottom being made up of a plurality of transverse slats (1,

secured to side chains (not shown) and to an endless driving-chain 7, extending beneath the longitudinal center of the bottom. At

the forward end of the bottom 5 is fixed an upright end board or follower 8. The for ward portion of the chain 7 is carried upon a sprocket-wheel 9, lixed upon a shaft 10,which shaft is rotatably mounted in bearings (not shown) at the forward end of the spreaderbody. The rear portion of said chain runs over a'sprockct-ivhcel 1'1, rigidly mounted upon a shaft 12, said shaft being rotatably mounted in suitable bearings at the rear end of the body. An idler-roller 13, supported beneath the spreader-box, carries the portion of the chain 7 which extends beneath said. box. In order to avoid shock and strain to the bottom 5 in rising over said idler-roller, the link v7, next adjacent to the rearmost slat of said bottom, is provided upon its under side with two wings 7", inclined downwardly from the forward end of said link and of a height at their rear ends substantially corresponding with the thickness of the slats 6. \Vhen the bottom is fed rearward and the rearmost slat 6 of said bottom approaches the idler-roller 13, the link 7 rides up over said roller, its wings 7 raising the adjacent slat 6 up onto'said roller, thus avoiding the shock which would be experienced if the edge of said slat were brought into contact with the roller.

The bottom 5 is fed rearward in the spreadeebox 1 during the spreading operation by means of mechanism to be next de scribed..

Upon a stub-shaft 14, rigidly mounted upon the spreader-box 1 by means of the bracket 15, is rotatably mounted a spur-gear 16, meshing with a similar gear 17, fixed upon the shaft 4. The inner face of said spur-gear 16 is provided with several gearrings 18 of differing diameters, the teeth of which rings are adapted to mesh with a pin ion 1%), shdably mounted upon the squared portion of a shaft 20. The hub 21 of the pinion 1.) has a peripheral groove 22 for the reception of the loop 23 of a yoke 24, said yoke comprising another loop 25, loosely embracing the shaft 20. The loop 23 is separable, being made up of a semicircular portion 26, formed integral with the cross-bar 27 of the yoke, and a detachable semicircular portion 28, adapted to be connected at one end with the portion 26 by means of a hook 29, adapt ed to enter an opening 30 in said portion 26 and to be connected at its other end with said portion 26 by' means of a bolt 31. perforated ear 32 on the cross-bar 27 affords 1 means for attaching an 'dperating-rod to said;

' of its shaft.

"bf said cam-wing l formed 11 on theiipper side ofth'e sleeve portioai o the bearing-bracket 33'. The cam- -bracket bein stubeshaft 14%) I andhaving a caring-socket 36 for the for-' oke for slidin the pinion 19 longitudinally y Two bearing-brackets 33 and 34 rotatably support the, s

s 'dably mounted 'upenjthe means of its sleeve portion'fi i ward end of'said shaft 20. The bracket 33 is moved longitudinally 'of the stub-shaft 114 by on the side of the spa-ceases ying between two ears B-Q,

wing 33'is oscillated by meansfof an I cperat- I iiig-arm -40, fixedwith'relationtosai cam- 'Upon' the rear end of theshaft 20 is 'wo'rm 4 1,and-;the bearing-34 for'fthis end-of the shaft is vertically movable within a g'uide bracket 42 securedto the sideof the spreader-box, in order-that said worm may be withdrawn from e'nga ement with the,

- teeth of its worrn-whee Such vertical of a sector-43, ro'tatably mounts movement is given to the bearin 34 by means upon'a stud 44,pr0jieoting from the side of the spreaderbox sa d sector having .a "cam-slot 45, within .ing-leve'rs 4 8 and 4,9 are pivotally mounted, upon the side of the spreader-box 1 within .52. A connecting-rod 53 connects the sector whibha fingered, fixed with relation to said bearingfi t, extends. The worm 41 is adapted to enga" ea'woim-wheel 47, fixed upon one end of t 'e-bottom-supporting shaft. Shiftconvenient reach'of the drivers seat 50 and arerespectivelyconnected with the ear 32 on the yoke 24 and thearm of the camwing 37 by means of connecting-rods 51 and 43'wit'h a crank-arm of the starting and stoppi'np mechanism, to be'later herein described,

pon a shaft 54, rotatably mounted i'nsuit ble bearings at the rear end of the spreader- I ody, is fixed a beater-cylinder 55, having Y has fixed upon one of its' ends a sprocketupon a spreader-box, the forwardendotwhich shifting leverfi t is provided with-two cppesitd radially-projecting teeth 56. The shaft 54 wheel 57 for receiving a drive-chain 58 said chain also running, over a sprocket-wheel 59, fixed upon a shaft-'60. The shaft 60 is rotatably supported forward of the shaft 4; in suitable bearings (not shown) and is-arran ed to be operatively connected with said sha 62, fixed upon the shaft 4. Upon. t e .adia

cent faces of the hubs of the sprdeketw-heeh 59 and the-spur-pinion 61 areiformed cli'itch'ej teeth (not shown) adapted to "intermeshhg The opposite side of the hub'of. saidspur pinion is eri herally grooved, as at 63, to re- 'c'eive t e orked rear end ofa shifting lever 64, pivotally mounted intermediate its' ends bracket 65, fixeditd the. side of. the

, able; rod 68. The forward on of the s y rodfis-and'the forward end of the connectin' Jud -:53 ,are'pivotally connected with cra -armsJQQand'70,!1espectively,u on a shaft 71,- p rotatebly mounted'in suitable earings upon -the ,forward rend ofthe spreader-body. 1A.

aft 20.; the forrheil means of an oscillatory cam-.wing 37", pivotally mounted 'u p box by means 0 the pivot 38- the outer edge tion;

hy means of a spur-pinion 61, loosely mounted on the shaft 60 and-meshing with a s re r.

tween the fingers 67 of a lo tudinallgl-slidhand leverl 72 is fixed upon the shaft 71m rocking said. shaft to throw the beater-.52

and bottom '5 into and out of action.

extending,caimtvingstfi, adapted tolie bei 'fting coiled spring 73, fixed at one end to said shaft and hearing at its other end against the forward end of the spreader-box or any other r fixed point, tends to rock said shaft in the di-:-

rection to throw the beater and bottom out of operation. The shaft 71-is held its operative osition by means of a detent arm 74, ada to to engage the hand-lever 72 when the atteris moved into its upright orworking position, said detent-arm being held'forw'a in position to engagasaid lever by means of. a

coiled spring 7 5, extending between said arm,

The: detent-arm-74 is 'autoand the box 1. matically rocked tq) release the shaft 71;; to

the action of-its spring 73 bymeans of a re leasing-lever 76, pivotally mounted beneath the spreader' box 1n the path of the rearend of v the bottom 5, said lever 76'being'connected with the detent-arm- 74b means of. an arm; 7 7

and a -link178. When t e rear slatfi offth'e bottom 5 strikes the releasing-arm- .76 ,the-def*'- -tent-arm 74 is withdrawn from engagementv with the lever 72, whereupon the spring-73;

throws the bottom actuating mechanism-and too the beater-actuating mechanism out of opera- 7 v Mechanism (not illustrated herein def tail) is provided for restoring the bottom 5' m its normal In order to position while the box 1 is being filled-with manure and the spreader is being'moved to position in the spreader-box ute the (point Where the manure is to be distriba ratchet-wheel 79 and a pawl 80 areold said bottom'm such normal provided, said ratchet-wheel being fixed upon T one end of the shaft 10. The awl.80 is ivotally mounted upon the side 0 the spree er-' body and'is pivotally connected with the crank-arm upon the shaft 71 by means of a link 81. When the shaft 71 is rocked by;

anlupward movement of the hand-lever 72 to throw the-bottom and the beater into action, the'pawl jis'withdrawn from engagement with thei'ratchet-wheel 79 ;-but when said ,shaft is nioved -bythe spring 73" to throw-the bottom ahd the; beater out of action the pawl 7 80 engages saidiratchet-wheel and locks the rbLottom-agai-n's't'rearward movement.v

'A'Trrake. 82"isjapivotally mounted in proper relation toLthebeater-cylinder 55 in bearing- I bracketsf s yigflarried by. Lt'he' spreader-box.

A -xarm 84; "fixedw'ith relation to the rake,

fprovides means'ltor 'swingingsaid rake toaro"andsaway from "the spreader-cylinder.

are

The outer end of said arm 84 is pivotally connected with the rear end of a connecting-rod 85, which rod is pivotally connected at its forward end to an operating-lever 86, pivot .fore referred to, has an inclined cam-surface 92, adapted to engage said bar 91 and press said lever 86 inward to withdraw the pm 88 from its locking-opening 89, and said crankarm also has a shoulder 93, adapted to engage said bar 91 and force said lever rearwardly to throw the rake 82 into its operative position. It will thus be seen that the arm 69 moves the rake 82 into its operative position simultaneously with the placing in action of the beater 55.

87 is a locking projection on the inner side of the loop 87, adapted to engage the handlever 86 and hold it in its rearward position.

In use the beater-rotating mechanism and the bottom-feeding mechanism are thrown.-

into operation by raising the hand-lever 72 'into its upright position, such movement of the lever 72 rockin the shaft 71, moving the worm 41 into mes with its worm-wheel 47 and clutching the sprocket-wheel 59 and the pinion 61 together, thus rotating the spreadercylinder 55 and feeding the bottom 5 rearward in the spreader-box. The rocking of the shaft 71 also causes the rake 82 to be swung into its operative position by reason of i the engagement of the arm 69 with'the projection upon the lever 86. As the follower board 8 moves rearward in the spreader-box the rearmost portion of the bottom 5 moves forward beneath the box 1. In order to avoid strainwhen the rearmost slat 6 of the bottom 5 is pulled over the idlerroller 13, I insert in the-drive-chain 7 for said bottom the special link 7 hereinbefore described, by means of the wings 7*, upon which link the approaching slat is lifted up onto said roller. WVhen it is desirable to change the rate of bottom travel with relation to the rotative speed of the spreader-cylinder, the lever 49 is moved to withdraw the pinion 19 from engagement with the spurgear 16, the lever 48 moved to shiftsaid pinion longitudinally upon its shaft 20 into coincidence with a gear-ring 18, calculated to produce the desired speed, and the lever 49 again moved to throw the pinion 19 into engagement with such gear-ring. Bemg supported at two points upon the shaft 2( the yoke 24 has no tendency under the action of the lever 48 to tilt the pinion 19, and thereby cause it to bind upon itsishaft.

I claim as my mvention 1. In a manure-s reader, in combination, a distributing mee anism; and a feeding mechanism .comprising a gear-wheel having a plurality of gear-rings, a pinion ad aipted to .mesh with any of said gear-rings and having a hub, a shaft on which said pinion is slidably mounted, a yoke comprising two widespread arms, one of which arms has an engagement with the hub of said pinion, the other arm being slidably mounted on said shaft at a distance from said pinion-hub, and means connected with said oke for sliding said yoke and said pinion ongitudinally of said shaft. j

2. In a manure-spreader, in combination, a distributing mechanism; and a feeding mechanism comprising a' gear-wheel having a plurality of. gear-rings, a pinion adapted to mesh with any of said 'gear-rings,-a shaft on which said pinion is slidably mounted, said pinion being provided with a hub having a peripheral groove therein, a yoke com rising two loops, one of said loops being oosely mounted on said shaft and the other loop being se arable and lying in the groove in the hub 0 said pinion, and means connected with I said yoke for sliding said yoke and said pinion longitudinally of said shaft.

3. In a manure-s reader, 1n combmatlon,

a distributing mec anism; and a'feeding mechanism comprising a movable bottom, a

drive-chain attached to said bottom, an idler-roller for supporting a portion of said chain and said bottom, said bottom comprising slats each attached to a link of said drive-chain, which slats during the travel of said bottom assume a position below said links when approaching said idler-roller, and an inclined portion on the under side of the link adj aoent to the end of said bottom, said inclined portion bein of aheight substantially equal to the thic mess of said slats.

4. In a manure-spreader, in combination, a distributing mechanism; and a feeding mechanism comprising a movable bottom, a drivechain attached to one side of said boa tom, and an idler-roller for supporting said chain and said bottom at one point, one of the links of said chain adjacent to one end of said bottom having an inclined portion of height substantially equal to the thickness of said bottom.

5. In a manure-spreader, in combination, a distributing mechanism; and a feeding mechanism comprising a movable bottom, a drive-chain attached to one side of said bottom, an idler-roller for supporting said chain and said bottom at one point, the link of said chain adjacent to one end of said bottom having on the same side as the bottom two r being thickness of said bottom.

6. In a manure-spreader, in combination, a distributing mechanism; a pivotally-mounted rakeadapted to pooperate with sald distributing meehanism; a pivoted lever for moving said rake upon its pivot; means for locking said lever to hold said rake in the inoperative osition; and means for throwing said distri uti-ng mechanism intoand out 0 0 eration, said means comprising a rotata= b e shaft, and means moving with said shaft for releasing said locking means and moving said lever upon its pivot.

7'. In a manure-spreader, in combination,

'- a beater-cylinder; a member adapted to be Twwamm moved into and out of operative position he-a.

of a height substantially equal to the member having a locking-opening therein} a locking-pin on said lever adapted to enter said opening; and means for placing saiddistributing mechanism in operation, said means comprisin jarotatable shaft, and 'neans moving with said shaft for :moving said lever to withdraw said pin from its locking-opening and for movlng. said lever to shift said first=mentioned member.

9. In a manure-spreader, in combination, a distributing mechanism; a rake adapted to be moved into and out of operative position;

' a pivoted lever for moving said rake; a fixed member having a locking=opening therein; a locking-pin on said lever adapted to enter 45 said opening; and means for placing said distributing mechanism in operation, said means comprisin a rotatable shaft, and an arm fixed on sea cam portion adapted to engage said lever and move it to withdraw said pin from its locking -,opening, said arm also having a shoulder adapted'to engage .said lever for pivotally moving said lever to move said rake. v

' v LOUISA, ENE; 4 Witnessesi I M. M. DALEY, L. L. MILLER.

shaft, said arm having a 

